Typical inspection issues

Teachers do not use activities which interest or motivate learners sufficiently. As a result, learners in these lessons do not make the progress they should.

Too often on study programmes, teachers set work that is dull and repetitive and does not capture students’ interest.

Duration

Learning Motivation can either be a half-day or full-day session.

Publicity information for event organisers and potential delegates

A healthy way to reflect on issues around learner motivation is to begin from the standpoint that: all learners are naturally motivated. Humans are ‘programmed’ to eat, sleep, communicate and learn; the fuel for this innate need to learn being ‘curiosity’. So if you find that learners are not motivated in the classroom, then the valuable question is not: ‘Why are my learners not motivated?’, but ‘What is it about the programme of study and/or my teaching strategy that is demotivating my learners?’

Using this questions, we begin exploring whether poor motivation is an ‘issue’ or a ‘symptom’ of something deeper. As you can never resolve a symptom directly, the route to solving the problem of poor motivation is to accurately identify its root cause. And for some providers, this can be a surprising and revealing journey.

In this Learning Motivation session, delegates will learn how to use the Data Springboard to find the root cause of poor levels of motivation, and then work through a number of, for some, revolutionary strategies for resolving the issues. How do you create intellectual temptation? How can the Formula for Happiness fundamentally change the way you plan your lessons? And how can you use a simple Learning Momentum graph to pinpoint the key issues with your pedagogy? All will be revealed in this thought-provoking session.

This session will enable staff to:

identify the very first signs of learner disengagement

useintellectual temptation to engage learners

consider a new approach to lesson planning and set out any implications for their teaching

evaluate the potential effectiveness of a lesson plan yet to be delivered

use their understanding of the difference between an issue and a symptom to identifyareas for improvement.

What the delegates say

An eye opening insight into what should have been done years ago.

It provided me with a major understanding of motivation techniques and how I can use them to improve.

Great applied examples. Re-engaged in my teaching after Xmas break.

‘Expandable foam’ – brain stretching!

Close to the pot of gold under the rainbow.

I need more time with my colleagues to implement some of the great ideas into my scheme of work.

Newcastle Sixth Form College

Timing

Learning Motivation can either be a half-day or full-day session. When taken as a full-day session, delegates will produce an enhanced lesson plan, integrating curiosity strategies throughout, and a lesson designed using the Formula for Happiness.

When taken as a half-day session, this session would combine well with the following courses in a staff development day: